Caged
by CEJ

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: Probably the most significant title of any image I've commented on in this series. The degree to which you have communicated with the viewer is in stark contrast with the communication exhibited by the couple. This is an image which is more about story and journalism than it is about technique and art and in that context this is a great image.

Critical stuff: Not too much, given the context of the image

Overall: A fine photojournalistic image with a great metaphoric title.

A Ghoulish Ride
by franktheyank

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: Interesting find! But the more interesting thing for me is what you've done with the image. I like your framing - you've got enough going on around the periphery to keep the eye nicely bounded; the rear 3/4 window bottom right, the sun flare at the bottom and the internal light top left. The slight amount of grain helps too.

Critical stuff: I like what you've done with this but I just not too sure that there is enough intrinsic interest in the scene to hold a viewers attention.

Overall: An very good edit of a scene which I think isn't over-endowed with interest.

The Man in the Mask
by aprudhomme

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I love the colour and the grain in this image and the close crop is pretty effective. I actually quite like the reflection on the forehead too.

Critical stuff: I'm not sure how well this all hangs together as a concept - the mask, hat and shirt don't really seem to gel and the elastic / string on the mask really needs cloning away.

Overall: Although I appreciated seeing such a conceptual image and I think the technicals are well matched - I think an image such as this lives or dies on the details and one or two of those let the image down.

A Cowboy's Long Day
by Lydia

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: Sometimes during this comment series I find myself commenting on images that have more than 'just' niche appeal - this is one of those images. What a brave edit to take this so dark but I really believe it is this boldness which is the key to the success of the image. The compositional elements are fantastic - such drama. The more I look at the image the better it gets.

Critical stuff: Nothing really, though I worry about the edit to your background.

Overall: This is a very good image, full of drama - I expect this to do very well.

Sunspots
by Melethia

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: You're so right to title your image after these compositional elements for the sun is so key to the success of the image. Both directly and indirectly through the evening colouration and the elongation of the shadows. There's plenty of story here too - I really like the most distant child in near silhouette with the hair catching the light; I also like how (I think) I can tell that his / her top is blue.

Critical stuff: The tilt is driving me nuts a little, I think it would've been easy to straighten it and I can't see what would have been compromised.

Overall: A charming, simple scene which captures a straightforward slice of life very well.

Our Lady of the Waters
by posthumous

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I'm a little mystified by this image and I'm sure, to an extent, that is your intent. It isn't a pretty image but it does have a degree of fascination which holds our interest as we ponder 'what is that??' Not only is the subject ambiguous but so is the scale and the wider context.

Critical stuff: All of the above! Clearly confusing voters may not be too good for business.

Overall: This isn't an image I'm going to pretend to like but I think I can appreciate some of your intent (I think...)

Cool Portrait On A Hot Day
by 1m1A

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I really like this image, it puts a smile on my face - I can almost feel the sun on my back! I don't mind admitting that I looked at this as a remote observer wondering what the figure was holding before I realised it was the camera! Doh! However, it works even better as a self-portrait.

Critical stuff: The border - I fear for you - this might be a rule-breaker for the addition of a new image area; I hope it doesn't get flagged up or if it does that it is judged to be OK.

Overall: A simple but happy-making image!

Solitary
by benee

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: First reaction - look at the depth! I've then noticed your title and I begin to realise this is an old prison and a big one too; that realisation make the image even more interesting. I'm not normally a fan of portrait orientations, you'll find very few in my portfolio, but what a good choice it was for this image. The monochrome conversion is very well done and I really pleased you have chosen to not give us deep shadows - being able to see detail in all of the scene is key to its success.

Critical stuff: Nothing really

Overall: A fine image, which has been well served by your editing choices.

Boston Building
by Digit3

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I like this - I think it is the colouration that pulls me in and in that regard the doors are the stars of the show. I'm very much a fan of saturated reds in otherwise fairly subdued colourscapes and this one is no exception. I also like the writing - it adds a context that I would have been curious about. The walking figure is interesting - in one way she is almost irrelevant but try to imagine the picture without her and much of the interest would be gone; that's clever - the use of a small compositional element that doesn't dominate but is nonetheless essential to the image.

Critical stuff: Not too much, I wish you'd compensated for the lens distortion, though I appreciate that you might not have the software so I really mustn't hold that against you...... but I can't say the same for the non-vertical orientation of the doors - given they are the key compositional element, I feel that nothing less than truly vertical will do.

Overall: architecture with a human touch - the walking figure serving to remind us that the built environment is a lived environment. Very nice image.

carefree
by ursula

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: Sometimes I find myself commenting on something in this comment series which will appeal beyond 'just' a niche audience - this is one of those images. Ursula - please stay with me in this comment for it might sound a bit mean to begin with! When I first looked at this image it left me a little cold - I could appreciate its beauty but it seemed to offer nothing new; it felt a little conventional. I re-examined that feeling - why did it seem conventional? Well, this genre is so well served by your work that I have in some way been conditioned to see it as normal / conventional - I need to re-examine. Its a bit like reading really - we see the letters and the words but we don't examine the shape of the letters our brain skips that part, we perceive the shape of the word, translate it and moved on before we know it. I'm stopping now, metaphorically looking at each letter - not taking the word for granted. What do I see. I see patterns of blur and sharpness, chaos and organisation, light and shade and hundreds of mini-rainbows - the micro and the macro held in equal high regard - it really is special.

Critical stuff: Just as I've said above, our familiarity with this sort of work, especially from you, can build viewer complacency - It's an image that requires some time to soak in a little. I hope people are generous enough with their time to do it justice.

Overall: It's just another Ursula image... in the same way that a painting may be just another Monet water lily.